Friendships Forgotten
by The Steel Angel
Summary: A visit to the psychologist makes Cassie see the world in a whole new light. f/f slash!


Forgotten Friendships  
By Wickedclowns101  
  
  
  
  
Authors Notes – In case you don't know, I actually do own the Animorphs, and all other characters mentioned in this fic. I guess it's time to tell you all, that the person behind this pen name, is actually me. Kathrine Alice Applegate. Believe me? No? damn, it was worth a try. Viva la Jake! Okay, enough of that. This is a slash fic. ~Watches as most of the audience leaves the room~ Okay, for those of you who are left, it's a f/f slash. ~Watches as the men return to the audience.~ A Cassie/Melissa, to be exact. A couple I don't think has been done before. I could be wrong, though. So sit back, and enjoy!  
  
  
  
  
  
I walked into the doctor's office nervously, and waited for him to close the door.  
"Please, have a seat." He said.  
"Oh, thank you." I said, and sat down on one of the red upholstered couches. The doctor sat down in a plain brown chair across from me. He shook his long black hair out of the way, and folded his hands in his lap.  
"Tell me a little about yourself." He said. I gulped.  
"Well, my name is Cassie. Cassie Berenson. But I'm sure you already know that." I said. The doctor nodded.  
"I'm twenty seven, and I try to live as normal a life as I cam being Cassie the Animorph." I said.  
"If you have a normal life, then why have you come to see me?" the doctor asked. I sighed.  
"It's funny, really. The whole time that the Yeerk war was going on, I thought I was going crazy. When the war ended, I never went to see anyone. I didn't need to." I said. The doctor nodded, staring at me with his ice blue eyes.  
"No, this isn't about the war. How ironic, that I would have to see a psychiatrist for such a simple reason." I said, beginning to remember what happened that day.  
"Does your husband know that you're here?" the doctor asked.  
"No!" I tensed up. "You can't tell Jake!" I said worriedly.  
"Don't worry, Mrs. Berenson. Everything said here, stays here." The doctor said. I started breathing again.  
"Thank you, Doctor…?" I asked.  
"Tousan. Doctor Tousan." He said. "Now, Mrs. Berenson. Maybe you should start by telling me why you're here." Tousan said. I cleared my throat.  
"Okay then. It happened six years ago…" I said, and let my memories pour out.  
  
  
  
BWe were in London. One of my absolute favorite places in the world to visit. Despite the world wide media attention, and the camera's following us everywhere, we were having a good time.  
It was our one year anniversary. It had a special place in my heart. It wasn't just the mark of when Jake and I started dating one year ago, it went deeper than that. It was today, one year ago, that Jake finally shrugged off all the pressure that he had been carrying since the end of the war.  
One year, since he finally stopped blaming himself for Rachel's death.  
One year, since he became the Jake I knew before the war had begun.  
"Do Paparazzi's have internal radar, or something?" Jakes asked.  
"Ask Marco. He'd know better than I would. Maybe we should morph one to find out." I joked. Jake laughed.  
"What, now that the war's over we can morph humans?" He asked, smiling.  
"Of course not. I was kidding." I said.  
"I know, I know." He said, and picked up his radio. He whispered into it. In five minutes, two big black vans pulled out behind Jake's Jaguar, and in front of the Paparazzi's van. Jake sped up, and pulled into a sheltered parking lot, sealing us off.  
"Where are we?" I asked.  
"Sorrentino's. One of my favorite Italian restaurants." Jake said, and offered his hand. I smiled and took it. We walked from the parking lot, and into the restaurant./b  
  
  
  
"I had no idea what I was getting into." I said.  
"Please, continue." Tousan said. "I'm intrigued."  
"Of course," I said.  
  
  
  
B"Are these prices for real?" I asked, staring down at my menu.  
"Remember, Cassie. We're in London. Euro's are different than dollars." Jake said. I shrugged.  
"What do you want?" Jake asked. I looked at my menu.  
"I'll take the lasagna." I said.  
"Lasagna for me too. Order for me if I'm not back in time." Jake said, getting up and walking to the bathroom.  
Jake leaving gave me the time to appreciate the surroundings. Low light, candles lit. Soft Italian music playing in the background. Other couples sitting at other table, leaning close to each other. I smiled at the sight, until I heard a vaguely familiar voice.  
"Cassie? Cassie Price?!?!" the voice said. I turned around to see a tall blond woman standing there.  
"Rachel?" I whispered before thinking.  
"It's me. Melissa." She said. Melissa Chapman. Daughter of one of our old nemesis'. Rachel's second best friend. Next to me.  
"Melissa??? What are you doing here?" I asked.  
"I'm going to college here… what are you doing here?" she asked.  
"I'm here with Jake." I said.  
"Oh yeah? I thought Jake was still all messed up over Rachel." Melissa said. I winced. The mention of Rachel's name brought back all the painful memories. Most notably, her last seconds alive./b  
  
  
  
  
BII stared in horror at the monitor on the pool ship. The grizzly was melting away, giving rise to the human that was Rachel. What did that name really mean?  
Was Rachel the girl who could never seem to get dirty?  
Was Rachel the girl I always argued with over clothes?  
Was she the sharp tongued girl who had a smart alleck answer to anything anyone said?  
Or was she like Marco had called her so many times, Xena: Warrior Princess?   
Or was Rachel truly, a scared little girl?  
I think now, that I watched her, I truly knew. She was all of those things wrapped up in one body. As much as I hated this war, it had let the warrior in Rachel come out. Given her a place in the universe.  
No one else could understand it. I could. Jake could. Of course, Jake had known from the beginning. That's why he hated himself for doing what he did to win the war that we couldn't lose.  
But Marco saw Rachel as reckless.  
Ax saw her as a true warrior.  
Tobias… well, Tobias loved her.  
She turned to the monitor, fully human now. Tobias spoke up. Tears were dripping from his human face.  
"I love you, Rachel." He said.  
"I love you," Rachel said. Her words were directed at Tobias. But she truly said them to all of us.  
I said privately before the polar bear killed her in one fatal swing./i/b  
  
  
  
  
BI winced at the memory.  
"Cass? You okay?" Melissa asked. I mentally slapped myself.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said.  
"Listen, I have to get back to work. My lunch break is almost over. Here." She handed me a small card.  
"That's my number and address. Stop by before you leave, we'll go do something." She said. I took the card.  
"Sure thing, Mel." I said.  
"Tell Jake I said hi." She said, and left. A few minutes later, Jake returned from the bathroom to find me standing.  
"What's up?" he asked. I turned to face him.  
"Just ran into an old friend. She says hi." I said.  
"Who was it?" Jake asked.  
"Melissa Chapman." I said./b  
  
  
  
  
"So whenever someone mentions the name Rachel, your mind flashes back to the last moment she was alive?" Tousan asked. I shook my head.  
"No, quite the opposite. That was the first time it's ever happened." I said.  
"Is that why you came to see me? Because you want to know why that happened?" Tousan asked.  
"No. Something else happened." I said. He nodded.  
"We've got as much time as you need, Mrs. Berenson." Tousan said.  
"Please, doctor. Call me Cassie." I said. He nodded again.  
"Call me Nabi." He said. I raised an eyebrow.  
"Nabi Tousan? That's an unusual name." I said.  
"Maybe that's why I'm a shrink." He said. We both laughed.  
  
  
  
  
B"Cassie? What's been bothering you?" Jake asked, once we were back in our hotel.  
"Hm?" I asked absentmindedly.  
"Ever since we were at the restaurant, you've been all depressed." Jake said.  
"It's not you, Jake. After talking to Melissa, I started thinking about Rachel." Jake sat down next to me, and put his arm around me.  
"Being sad won't help, Cassie. It'll only hurt you more. You told me that." He said.  
"I did?" I asked. Jake nodded. I squirmed in his grasp.  
"I… I think I'm going to go to the store, I need to get something to eat." I said. It was a lie. I'd become good at that.  
I needed to get out of that room. I needed to breathe.  
"Oh… okay, Cassie." Jake said. I kissed him, and grabbed my jacket./b  
  
  
  
  
"Running away from Jake?" Nabi asked me.  
"Now that I think about it, I suppose I was." I admitted.  
"Do you regret it?" he asked. I giggled.   
"Let me finish the story." I said.  
"Ah, okay. Please continue." He said.  
  
  
  
  
BI knocked on the light brown door softly. It was late, so I didn't want to wake anyone else up. Melissa answered the door, in her nightgown.  
"Cassie?" she asked.  
"Yeah, can I come in?" I asked. She moved out of the way.  
"O…of course, but why are you here?" she asked, closing the door behind me.  
"I don't know, exactly. I just know that I want to be around you right now." I said. I sounded like a lesbian!  
"What about Jake?" she asked.  
"He's back at the hotel." I said.  
"Oh, won't you sit down?" she asked. I nodded, and sat down on her couch. She sat down next to me.  
"What's up?" she asked.  
"Today, when we were at the restaurant, you said you thought Jake was messed up over Rachel…" I said.  
"Yeah…?" Melissa asked. I lost it. I buried my face in my hands, and started sobbing.  
"Melissa…. She was my best friend…" I cried. Melissa, unsure what to do, hugged Cassie.  
"Sh, Cassie. It's okay. She's in a better place right now." Melissa said.  
"Why did she have to leave us," I said, pressing my face against Melissa's shoulder.  
"It was her time, Cassie. God called her up to heaven." Melissa said. I lifted my head up, still sobbing.  
"You… really think so?" I asked.  
"I know so, Cassie." She said. I don't know why I did what I did. But I leaned up and kissed her on the cheek. She reacted by hugging he tighter. I hugged her back./b  
  
  
  
  
"…After that, we had some coffee, and then I went back the hotel room." I explained.  
"I see." Nabi said.  
"What I came to see you about, is that ever since then, I've felt… attracted to Melissa. As more than a friend." I said.  
"I see…" Nabi repeated.  
"What do you think?" I asked. He put down his notebook, and stood up. He walked over to one of his book shelves, and leaned on it.  
"You want my interpretation?" he asked. I nodded.  
"I think, that after Rachel died, you lost your best friend. For those five years, since it happened, that part of you was gone. Seeing Melissa must have re-awakened those feelings. You had a desire to see Rachel. And Melissa is the closest one to Rachel that you could find." Nabi said.  
"So what do I do?" I asked.  
"That all depends. Do you love your husband?" he asked.  
"Yes." I said.  
"Do you love Melissa?" he asked. I looked at the ground.  
"Yes," I said slowly.  
"Then you're going to have to make a decision. You're going to have to make a choice between Jake and Melissa." Nabi said. A tear fell from my eye.  
"Thank you, Doctor Tousan…" I said, and stood up. I walked over to him, and hugged him.  
"Good luck." He whispered into my ear.  
"Thank you. I'm going to need it." I said.  
  
  
  
(Three months later)  
  
  
  
Things had finally settled down. I'd made my choice, and while I wasn't exactly happy about it, I wasn't unhappy.  
"Love….Cassie…" I wrote, and signed my name at the bottom of the letter. I stuffed it in the envelope, and licked it shut.  
"Are you coming to bed, Cass?" Melissa called.  
"Be right there, Mel." I said, walking outside, making sure I didn't misspell Jake's address on the letter. I put it in the mailbox, and raised the red flag.  
I walked back into the house, and back into the bedroom.  
"It's about time." Melissa said, putting down her book. I crawled up in bed, and kissed her.  
"I just had to mail Jake a letter." I said.  
"Oh, okay." Melissa said, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so lucky to have you." Melissa said.  
I kissed her again. "And I'm lucky to have you." I said.  
It was true. I felt as if I was truly blessed. I had Melissa. I had Jake. Even if I wasn't married to Jake anymore, he still loved me. And I would always love him. But now, I had to do what was best for me.  
RingRing! RingRing!  
"The telephone…" Melissa said, moving her hand toward the phone. I slapped her hand playfully.  
"Let it ring." I said, pulling her into another kiss.  
  
  
-FIN 


End file.
